Britain faces aggressive cuts in 'age of austerity': minister

Britain faces an "age of austerity" as the new coalition government readies aggressive cuts in public spending to slash the deficit, Treasury minister David Laws told the Financial Times on Saturday.Laws, chief secretary to the Treasury in Prime Minister David Cameron's coalition, will outline plans on Monday to make 6.0 billion pounds (6.9 billion euros, 8.7 billion dollars) of cuts in the current 2010/2011 year.

Related

Britain's new coalition government will Monday outline how it plans to slash government spending by 6.0 billion pounds (6.9 billion euros, 8.7 billion dollars) to reduce the nation's record deficit.A sharp deterioration in the eurozone economy has forced Britain to slash its huge public deficit faster than anticipated, Britain's Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg insisted on Sunday.Official data released on Friday showed that the deficit had hit 156.1 billion pounds in 2009/2010, or 11.1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Britain's new coalition government unveiled some 6.2 billion pounds (7.2 billion euros, 8.9 billion) in cuts of "wasteful" public sector spending Monday to slash a record deficit.Amid warnings about an "age of austerity", the Conservative-Liberal Democrat administration detailed where the axe is set to fall and unveiled proposals to raise more revenue for the country's empty coffers."In the space of just one week we have found and agreed to cut 6.25 billion pounds of wasteful spending across the public sector," said finance minister George Osborne.

London (AFP) - Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne unveiled fresh austerity measures Wednesday to slash the country's debt, evoking the plight of crisis-hit Greece in presenting the first purely Conservative budget for nearly 20 years.